How It Should Be
by Kirsten Kern
Summary: Rachel contemplates her choices through song. Spoilers up until 3x01. Slightly AU.


Disclaimer: I don't own Glee nor "Not Like The Movies" by Katy Perry

A/N: No beta, early in the morning. Just wanted to get something out because I need to start writing again. It'd be lovely if you could forgive any stupid mistakes I made, because I'm sure I have made some (early morning posting FTW). Also, sorry, if it's shit.

* * *

Finn proposed. Finn proposed to _her. _Even as it was happening, Rachel couldn't believe it. How could she have let this all get so out of hand? But she couldn't say no; she couldn't hurt him like that. At least not without more of a reason other than "it doesn't feel right."

What he had said had been sweet, sweeter than anything he had ever said. But that didn't subtract from all the other things he had done and said before the proposal. So she told him she needed time, needed some time to just figure everything out.

He left the auditorium in a huff, storming out in a way that made her cringe; mainly because it was subpar and could've used less chair-kicking. And once he was gone, she sat on that stool, staring blankly at the floor in front of her. She felt empty, not the cathartic joy she thought she would feel when she was proposed to. She didn't feel complete nor truly loved. She didn't feel like she was in love, either. Probably because she wasn't.

"_He put it on me, I put it on like there was nothing wrong._" She stared at her finger, imagining that band across it, scattering the light reflecting from it. "_It didn't fit, it wasn't right. Wasn't just the size." _Everything about the whole thing was wrong. She didn't want to be proposed to because it was the only option left for him. She was supposed to be his partner, not his last choice. "_They say you know when you know. I don't know."_

She stood, pushing off the stool and turning towards the seats. _"I didn't feel the fairytale feeling, no,"_ she clutched her stomach, eyes closing. _"Am I a stupid girl for even dreaming that I could?" _She deserved more than that, more than Finn. She deserved her dreams, she deserved her chance on Broadway; she'd dedicated her life so far to it and Finn wasn't going to stop her.

* * *

Finn wrapped his arm around her, hugging her smaller body towards him. She mentally cringed, wanting to pull away from him. His hug felt too oppressive now, different somehow. It felt wrong to be in his arms but there was nothing she could do.

"_If it's not like the movies, that's how it should be, yeah." _Snippets from _My Fair Lady _flashed through her head. Dancing and romance, fighting but making up; no one kicking chairs. Real romance.

"_When he's the one, I'll come undone."_ She looked up at him, watching him joke with Puck across the table. She didn't feel the same spark that she used to when she was with him. And she certainly didn't feel like anything was coming undone except her dreams. Her ambition and drive were slowly deteriorating before her eyes as Finn pushed himself into her life even more. _"And my world will stop spinning, and that's just the beginning, yeah."_

She was going to lose herself more and more as each day passed.

* * *

"_Snow White said when I was young, 'One day my prince will come,'"_ Rachel walked to the piano, sitting down at the bench and plucking out the notes as she went along. _"So I'll wait for that date."_

"_They say it's hard to meet your match, gotta find my better half. So we make perfect shapes."_ Finn wasn't her perfect match. He wasn't the second half of her, he didn't complete her. He took half of herself and buried it away, pushing it down and suffocating it so she would be what he wanted her to be. She wasn't the same, couldn't be the girl she wanted to be if he were still around.

"_If stars don't align," _she played the notes more passionately, her eyes closing unconsciously and her voice sounding with more power, _"if it doesn't stop time. If you can't see the sign, wait for it."_

"_One hundred percent worth every penny spent, he'll be the one that finishes your sentences."_

* * *

"_If it's not like the movies." _She loathed the days she had to sit around and watch Finn play through his video games. But at least she didn't have to kiss him during that time. She remembered the days when they actually went on dates, when he used to be as chivalrous as he could be, which really just constituted opening the door and paying for her occasionally at dinner. But at least it was more than now.

Why couldn't she be treated the same way he used to treat her, like she was special and not second-rate? There should be picnics or romantic movie dates or _something. "That's how it should be, yeah."_

"_If he's the one, he'll come undone, and my world will stop spinning. And that's just the beginning, oh, yeah."_

* * *

Rachel belted out, pouring her heart into her song. _"Cause I know you're out there." _She had to believe that her true love was out there. She couldn't stand the thought of being alone for her whole life, she didn't even care if she had someone right now, but she wanted to have _someone, eventually._

"_And you're, you're looking for me, oh."_

* * *

Quinn scanned the hallways. It was after school and not many people were still in the halls. She saw Finn walking towards her, head down and shoulders tense.

"Finn." He looked up, anger and rejection on his face before it faded away to a neutral look.

"Yeah, Quinn?" He asked, sighing as he rubbed his forehead.

"Don't take this as a sign of me caring," she prefaced, raising an eyebrow at his behavior, "but are you okay?" She watched as he shuffled his feet and looked over his shoulder before scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, it's just—" he stopped and looked at her, his hand going to his pocket. "I just, I proposed to Rachel and she said she needed time."

Quinn's mind screeched to a halt. "You _what?"_

"Look, Quinn, we're over. I mean, you can't keep coming back for me. You have to move on. I'm with Rachel now, and soon we'll be married. She just wants some time to make me wait."

Quinn stared past him. "Where is she?"

"I'm not going to tell you; I don't want you to go attack her like you nor—"

Quinn glared up at him. "Finn. Tell me where Rachel is. Now." She watched with internal amusement as he gulped nervously.

"Uhhh, auditorium." Quinn brushed past him, walking quickly down the hallway. "Just don't do anything to her!"

She ignored him.

* * *

_"It's a crazy idea that you were made perfectly for me…" _Rachel paused her fingers, her voice catching before she whimpered. _"You'll see." _Her fingers had stopped, resting over the keys as the beginnings of tears stung her eyes.

_"Just like the movies… that's how it will be." _She wanted the romance and the drama, the wonders and the mysteries. Someone who could give that to her, someone she could be with without having to change. _"Cinematic and dramatic with the perfect ending."_

The only person who was like this was the most illogical choice though. _"It's not like the movies." _With her, it was different, crazy and a little bit fucked up. _"But that's how it should be." _But she was at least someone who fit her and kept her grounded.

"_When she's the one, you'll come undone." _So many times had she come undone around her, it was like there was an invisible force drawing it out of her. Both of them seemed to only come undone around one another.

* * *

"_You don't belong here, Rachel, and you can't hate me for helping to send you on your way."_

* * *

"_You did this to me! No one voted for me because Finn would rather be with you!"_

"_That's not true!"_

…

"_I'm so sorry."_

* * *

"_I came to thank you, actually."_

"_For what?"_

"_For keeping me from doing something stupid, something I would've regretted my entire life."_

"_We're kind of friends, huh?"_

"_Kind of."_

* * *

"_And your world will stop spinning…." _Rachel sighed, pausing her fingers above the keys as she hung her head. It could never work like that. She would never get the pretty blonde cheerleader.

"_And it's just the beginning."_

Rachel's head rose sharply. She turned around to come face-to-face with a smiling Quinn.

"And it could be beautiful with the right person," Quinn said as she placed her hand soothingly on Rachel's shoulder, squeezing gently before her hand glided down the girl's tan arm. Her fingers hooked onto Rachel's.

Brown eyes shifted down to their hands before rising back to hazel eyes. Quinn squeezed her hand, smile growing as she watched Rachel's eyes light up. A smile spread across her lips before she was grinning shyly up at Quinn.

"But it could be a lot more than that."

* * *

_Reviews always welcome. Could use some feedback on this especially because it's been awhile since last writing._


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